North Dakota judge finalizes $345m judgment against Greenpeace in pipeline case | North Dakota
A North Dakota judge on Friday finalized a $345 million judgment against Greenpeace in a lawsuit brought by pipeline company Energy Transfer (ET.N) On the environmental group’s role in protests against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
final decision judge James Gion agreed: decision In October, it awarded nearly half the nearly $667 million in damages the jury awarded Energy Transfer in March.
In a statement, Greenpeace said it would seek a new trial and appeal the decision to the North Dakota supreme court if necessary, calling the case “a blatant attempt to silence free speech.”
“It should never be illegal to speak out against companies that harm the environment,” Marco Simons, interim general counsel for Greenpeace USA and the Greenpeace Fund, said in a statement.
In a statement, Energy Transfer called the ruling “an important step in this legal process that holds Greenpeace accountable for its illegal and damaging actions against us during the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.”
He added that it was “to analyze possible next steps we might choose to take to make sure they are held fully accountable.”
The Dakota Access project near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation began in 2016 and was completed in 2017.
Construction of the pipeline, which currently carries about 40% of the oil produced in North Dakota’s Bakken region, has been met with fierce protests by environmental and tribal advocacy groups who say it will poison the local water supply and worsen the climate crisis.
Texas-based Energy Transfer first He filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace He was indicted in a federal court in North Dakota in 2017 for spreading lies about the project and paying protesters to disrupt construction.
North Dakota jury announces verdict Marchincluding damages for defamation, trespass and conspiracy.
greenpeace A lawsuit was filed against Energy Transfer in the Netherlands in February under a European law aimed at blocking lawsuits to harass or silence activists. That case is ongoing.
